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January 21, 2022

The Talbot Spy

The nonprofit e-newspaper for the Talbot County Community

Point of View Al Top Story

White House Edicts by Al Sikes

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What national goals should be converted to mandates and pursued relentlessly through Executive Branch executive orders and its regulatory agency rules? In other words, which goals should bypass Congressional scrutiny and therefore representative democracy?

Relatedly, are there subjects that should be given oxygen and ultimately better understanding through Congressional hearings? Which is to say hearings aimed more at findings than advocacy.

Much of today’s political activity recalls several of our dogs in day’s past falling into the water and frantically swimming, almost catapulting themselves to get back on terra firma. While our labradors enjoyed water under foot, others didn’t. Too many politicians can only maintain their footing on their dogma.

I recently watched the Netflix movie, Don’t Look Up. The movie is dark satire about the impending implosion of the earth due to climate change. The storyline is that a Michigan State scientist and his doctoral candidate have calculated that a quite large comet will strike the earth in six months and cause earth-ending destruction.

The pair travel to Washington to convince the President, a witless female played by Meryl Streep, that she must take immediate action to divert the comet. Among other, often hilarious insults, the Michigan State pair was dismissed because they weren’t from an Ivy League school.

The movies’ narrative assumption was that the populous was not prepared to believe unassailable evidence—they were wallowing in pleasure and the thoughtless twitch culture. Long term, for them, is a three minute Tik Tok production.

So let me reflect on the filmmakers concern, climate change. Today there are two centers of gravity on climate change. First there are those who are certain the earth (we) are on the road to destruction. The second either doesn’t believe or doesn’t know what to believe about the road we are on.

This binary thinking is dangerous because it leads to abrupt dismissal of each other’s opinions—on an existential issue. Where does a democracy go when one school of thought wants to end the use of fossil fuels and the other school wants gas freely available for a price that doesn’t exceed expectations? President Biden, who is generally believed to embrace the first school of thought, recently raided the oil reserve to expand supply and lower prices. The reality of today’s politics swells with hypocrisy; a hot-house gas that breeds cynicism.

In a democracy, people need to be informed about urgent and far-reaching goals. But when it comes to climate change and the trillions of dollars necessary to make a real difference in greenhouse gases, big moves are hidden in enormous omnibus bills or agency regulations ordered up by the White House.

So, what if Congress stripped climate related legislation out of the massive Build Back Better legislative package and spotlighted climate legislation in regional and national hearings? Would this be constructive?

I’m hesitant to forecast how many more people would be better informed. But, it is my guess that when 2022 fades into 2023 such a move could be on the list of best Congressional actions of the previous year. And, the mid-term electorate might just be better informed.

Given Congresses standing today, those who seek office to be a Member of America’s most important institution should demand the return of the necessary practices of representative government. Likewise voters should put the health of the Congress at the top of their list of national objectives.

Relatedly, when it comes to White House edicts, they set up inevitable court actions claiming the order should be reversed. These clashes, with inevitable winner and loser narratives, portray the Supreme Court as a political combatant rather than a constitutional arbiter. Not a good place for the Supreme Court to be.

Both political parties contend endlessly on how this or that policy change or appropriation will lead to nirvana. Leaders, and especially Congressional ones, should concentrate on reforming Congress and facilitating representative government. At this point there are only two co-equal branches of government.

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al writes on themes from his book, Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books. 

Wisdom vs. Intelligence by Angela Rieck

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When I was in graduate school, it was considered unscientific to believe that animals had feelings, could develop a language, or even communicate. As the dominant species, humans were believed to have the corner on language, perception, knowledge, and intelligence. B. F. Skinner believed that nurture was predominant over nature, and we could mold humans into anything that we wanted them to be. Operant conditioning and Classical Conditioning were the modes of learning (Operant—we reinforce desired behavior, Classical—we pair elements to create learning).

Scientists who suggested that animals could grieve, communicate, or use a language were mocked.

Thank God those days are behind us.

Today’s scientists are more accommodating when it comes to understanding communication and intelligence. We recognize that there are different types of intelligence, sensory experiences, and communication.

This new philosophy is coming just in time. As our environment groans from our large (and massively expanding) human population; scientists are investigating how animals and plants that adapt to changing environments can help us.

Many scientists recognize that most species are more dimensional than originally believed. Elephants, primates, dolphins, and whales, in addition to communicating, may have a language. Dogs can understand some words in the human language and primates can be taught sign language.

Many plants and animals have more acute and more complex senses than we possess. For example, a dog’s sense of smell is approximately 50 times greater than ours. When they smell stew, they separately smell carrots, onions, beef, etc. and can identify every ingredient in the stew.

Many animals can detect when a storm is approaching. While scientists hypothesize that this due to an ability to sense a change in barometric pressure; I suspect that there is more to it.

Humans are constrained by what we can sense; scientists are constrained by what we measure. It is not a large leap to suggest that there are other signals, frequencies, energies that exist that we cannot yet measure.

Human arrogance has prevented us from learning from plants and animals. For example, we didn’t recognize that elephants had a language until 20 years ago. They use a low frequency that we could measure but not hear. We also understand that many species grieve. It is believed that some animals (e.g., sea turtles, birds, dogs, butterflies, fish, lobsters, etc.) use Earth’s magnetic field for navigation.

Scientists have recently discovered that trees actually communicate with each other. Yep, that’s right, even plants can communicate. A parent tree nurtures its saplings. How? Mycelium (fungi) form an underground “mycorrhizal network,” which enables individual plants to transfer water, nitrogen, carbon, and other minerals. That network is vast and, in some ways, as sophisticated as the Internet and the human brain. That’s right fungi. (The mushrooms that we see are actually just the reproductive parts of mycelium.)

Since trees use it, what else might?

Some scientific fields, such as mycology (the study of mushrooms) are being led by amateurs and naturalists who are unconstrained by conventional “wisdom.”

The naturalist, Jim Hutto, spent a year as a “turkey mom” to a brood of wild turkeys in a Northern Florida forest. He discovered a new world where turkeys communicated with each other and experienced joy every day through play and curiosity.

Paul Stamets is a recognized expert in fungi and views mushrooms as a critical resource for environmental and medical advances. Mushrooms have been able to adapt to major environmental changes, such as the cataclysmic mass extinction of the dinosaurs and most plants and animals. (For those interested, I recommend the documentary, Fantastic Fungi on Netflix.).

In the past, we have used plants to create medicines, now scientists are investigating what we can learn from animals and plants. What products do they produce (e.g., silk) that can replace commonly used inorganic materials (e.g., in medicine)? Mushrooms, with their ability to break down carbon-based forms, could become among the most effective cleaners of land-based oil spills. Scientists have been able to double the efficiency of solar panels by modifying their structure to match the nano-structure of butterfly wings.

Rather than fighting against and attempting to conquering nature, what if we revered it, worked with it, and took advantage its knowledge and wisdom? I can only hope that new generations of scientists and naturalists learn to work closely with our Mother Earth. She has so many secrets to reveal.

Angela Rieck, a Caroline County native, received her PhD in Mathematical Psychology from the University of Maryland and worked as a scientist at Bell Labs, and other high-tech companies in New Jersey before retiring as a corporate executive. Angela and her dogs divide their time between St Michaels and Key West Florida. Her daughter lives and works in New York City.

Congressman Raskin Promises “Historic” Hearing on January 6 Insurrection by J.E. Dean

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“What is going on with the January 6 committee?” I’ve been impatiently wondering about that for months. Why is the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol moving slow as molasses? When will the Committee hold public hearings? Is the Committee risking not finishing its work before the end of 2022?

More simply put, because almost 14 months have passed since Trump lost the 2020 election and more than a year since his followers marched to the Capitol with orders to prevent the certification of Biden’s win, I am worried that Trump once again will not be held accountable. Last Thursday, Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD), a member of the Select Committee, offered a dramatic answer to my questions on a Zoom call before the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. Raskin thinks Trump’s luck is about to run out. 

As most Marylanders know, Raskin is a constitutional lawyer representing the 8th Congressional District, the D.C. suburbs. Raskin told the Zoom-call participants that the upcoming hearings will be a “game changer for American history.”  

Said Raskin: “We are going to do everything we can to subpoena all the information we need and to enforce our subpoenas. But even if we don’t get every last person in there, we are going to have hearings that I believe will be compared to the Watergate hearings, because they are going to blow the roof off the House in terms of explaining to America what actually happened in the attack on our democracy.”

Those of us who were around for the 1973 Watergate hearings recall that the hearings led to Richard Nixon’s resignation. After hearing evidence of Nixon’s involvement with the Watergate break-in and other efforts to undermine the Democratic party, a critical mass of Hill Republicans urged Nixon to resign. 

It’s unclear whether today’s Congressional Republicans will respond to hard evidence of sedition and other Trump crimes. (Don’t hold your breath for our own Andy Harris to break ranks with Trump. If Trump were to shoot someone on Washington Street in Easton, I would expect “Handgun” Harris to find a way to blame the Democrats.)

Jamie Raskin, like many of us, has had it with Trump. We are sick of hearing “the Big Lie,” and abhor Trumpism. His examination of the evidence of Trump’s activities led him to offer this assessment of the former president: “The guy’s a walking crime wave, and he has committed crimes all over the country, including sexual harassment and assault on a lot of people. There’s bank fraud and there’s real estate fraud and there’s tax fraud. And there are prosecutors all over the country, looking at all that stuff. I don’t want us to fetishize Donald Trump that much — he will meet you know, his maker, one place or another, there will be accountability and a reckoning with the law.”

A video of the discussion is on Facebook.

Raskin did not specify what he expects the January 6 Committee will find. It is premature to make specific predictions on what the committee’s hearings will disclose. With that caveat, here are a few guesses based on what I’ve been reading:

Details documenting President Trump’s direct involvement in the planning, funding, and execution of the January 6 insurrection.

Proof of direct involvement of several members of Congress in facilitating the January 6 attack. (I don’t expect Dr. Harris to be among the group.)

Documentation that the organizers of the attack, including White House officials, saw the attack as an attempted coup. Evidence is likely to include multiple email communications and proof that the organizers stockpiled weapons to use for even more violence had the January 6 effort been successful.  

Proof that several Fox News personalities had advanced knowledge of the January 6 attack and discussed it with Trump and key White House and Trump advisors.

Full documentation of who paid the insurrectionists’ expenses.

Documentation on what Trump planned to do to solidify his hold on presidential power had the coup been successful.

The seriousness of the attempted coup is becoming apparent. Did the insurrectionists plan the arrest and possible execution of their adversaries? No evidence of that has surfaced to date, but Congressman Raskin seems to suggest that once the full findings of the committee are released, we will also see Trump and the fragility of democracy in a new light. 

If Jamie Raskin is correct in saying that the January 6 committee public hearings will be “must see” TV, the hearings could be a turning point in the effort to hold Trump and his co-conspirators accountable. The Watergate Hearings, including ones featuring another lawyer named John Dean, captured the public’s attention. As Nixon’s guilt and lying became obvious, his public support evaporated. Congressional Republicans abandoned him, with some urging him to resign. 

Today’s Congressional Republicans, with few exceptions, have proven less principled, more cowardly, and less patriotic than their predecessors. It remains to be seen whether the revelations that Raskin predicts will come to light will prompt a change in Republican attitudes.

Full disclosure:  Although I went to the same law school as John W. Dean, III, received phone calls intended for him from numerous reporters in 1973, I am no relation to “the other John Dean” but still recommend Dean’s Worse Than Watergate, which is about the George W. Bush administration, not Trump’s. 

J.E. Dean is a retired attorney and public affairs consultant writing on politics, government, birds, and other subjects.

 

Out and About (Sort of): Dollar Day by Howard Freedlander

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Tomorrow will be a big day for unapologetic Annapolis watchers as Gov. Larry Hogan unveils Maryland’s fiscal year 2023 budget. While that might seem ho-hum to most residents of the Old Line State, trade, interest and constituent groups will be anxiously awaiting the budget figures, particularly the divvying up of a $4.6 billion surplus.

As hopeful motion picture Oscar winners sit mesmerized by the prospect of an incalculable boost in their artistic careers, so will non-profit leaders be transfixed by digitized budget books that hold answers to their financial dreams.

Mid-Shore non-profits will be like children on Christmas hoping that Santa Claus considers them worthy of budgetary support. Disappointment over the sums ladled out by the governor are all too frequent. The process is agonizing.

Gov. Hogan has his priorities, such as tax cuts for retirees and military veterans. He also will try to beef up pandemic support for health care professionals. Transportation and school projects are always large-money consumers.

Legislative leaders already have signaled their intent to help the poor and appropriate one-time project expenditures. They can only cut, not increase the state budget under state law. The state budget must be balanced.

Fiscal wrestling during the 90-day session between the executive and legislative branches is commonplace.

Bargaining is the coin of the realm. Compromise might be another apt term.

Unmistakable undercurrents will influence the 2022 legislative session. In his last year as governor after nearly two terms and possibly interested in running for national office, Hogan will look for political advantage helpful to his next campaign. He is a savvy politician. He understands the value of legacy.

Meanwhile, General Assembly members will be running for re-election in 2022. They too will seek budgetary goodies for their constituents as well as legislation favorable to the folks back home. They do not wish to anger their constituents and voters. Upcoming elections prompt vivid memories for voters.

An election year and a huge surplus are a combustible mix. Requests for slices of the state largesse are voluminous. The money tree will be laden with ornaments bearing names on them for hundreds and hundreds of special interest groups connected to every corner of our small but well-populated state.

As a caveat, a huge surplus is a double-edged sword for our governor and legislators. In some ways, being strapped for money makes life easier in judging the merits of spreading the wealth, or lack thereof. Though politicians are reluctant to say no to constituents, constrained resources provide cover and rationale for them in cash-starved times.

Every year at this time, I typically urge readers to direct their attention—not all of it, mind you—to the Maryland General Assembly session. Bills passed and signed affect all our lives in ways big and small. The state budget determines the policy direction to be taken by state government in fulfilling constituent needs.

Though just a week-old, the legislative session begins in many ways tomorrow as vigorous budget battles will commence with release of the state’s financial blueprint.

I will watch with great interest. The sport of governing and legislating, while discouraging at times, is fascinating.

Columnist Howard Freedlander retired in 2011 as Deputy State Treasurer of the State of Maryland. Previously, he was the executive officer of the Maryland National Guard. He also served as community editor for Chesapeake Publishing, lastly at the Queen Anne’s Record-Observer. In retirement, Howard serves on the boards of several non-profits on the Eastern Shore, Annapolis and Philadelphia.

 

 

Such a Gift by Jamie Kirkpatrick

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A friend recently introduced me to the work of Phyllis Theroux. I was only a few pages into her memoir The Journal Keeper when this line jumped out at me: “It is such a gift to coincide with where you live.” And there you have it: that’s exactly how I feel about the place where I now reside: our little row house on Cannon Street in the historic heart of Chestertown.

When it comes to coinciding with places I’ve lived, I’ve been lucky. There was a wonderful old farmhouse on the campus of the school where I once worked that needed a caretaker; a second floor shotgun apartment in the Georgetown section of Washington that opened onto a gorgeous hidden garden; an apartment in the old, grey town of St. Andrews, Scotland that was next to a castle and overlooked the North Sea; a traditional Tunisian house with simple spare rooms radiating off a central courtyard covered by a grape arbor. In each, I was happy, and that happiness was indeed a gift that coincided with the place where I lived.

In another week, my wife and I will celebrate our first decade in Chestertown. Our house may be small, but its front porch opens onto a world where friends drop in and all are welcome. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what it is about this place that so satisfies my soul. Maybe it’s the open streetscape or the mottled sycamore that provides us with summer shade; the mix of interesting people that meander by; our neighbors and our shared white picket fences; the rich though sometimes poignant history and architecture of four old homes in a colonial town; the ebb and flow of the nearby river; the latent fertility of the farmers’ fields now sleeping under a sheet of snow just around the corner. Yes; all those elements and some other, more ephemeral qualities, too: the blush of light that bathes us with soft colors at sunset; the brilliance of the stars shining like diamonds in the nighttime sky; the hush of our darkened street; the smell of fresh bread from the bakery next door; the ricochet of laughter or the quiet hum of conversation on the porch. Bits we notice and pieces we take for granted. Nothing is perfect, but except for all the leaves that drop from that mottled sycamore tree in the fall, the gift of this place comes pretty darn close.

Some of us come from here; others, like me, came from away. I like to think that this town found me, not the other way ‘round, but however the connection was made, I’m more than grateful. Now with ten good years under my belt here, I’m beginning to feel the pull of forever, something I’ve never experienced before. That feeling may be the wrapping paper and bow on the gift this place has bestowed on me.

Ms. Theroux is a native Californian who long ago uprooted herself and moved to Washington. (She now lives in the small town of Ashland, Virginia.) I imagine she is a pretty close observer of people and places, so her gifts have likely been copious, too. Maybe some day, we’ll compare notes and reminisce about the wayside inns where we stopped along our winding way. Maybe on our porch. I’d like that.

I’ll be right back.

Jamie Kirkpatrick is a writer and photographer who lives in Chestertown. His work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Washington College Alumni Magazine, and American Cowboy Magazine. Two collections of his essays (“Musing Right Along” and “I’ll Be Right Back”) are available on Amazon. Jamie’s website is www.musingjamie.com

 

 

 

Focus on Talbot: Fly in the Ointment? By Dan Watson

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It’s been three weeks since a FOT column appeared, as I have not had my focus on Talbot at all. A trip below the Antarctic circle to see the terrain and critters down there was most excellent, and quite the diversion.

Meanwhile, the Lakeside affair moves towards resolution, albeit in slow motion.

On December 13th the Council received proof that its 2020 approval of Lakeside was based on false pretenses; the central “facts” presented by the developer were inescapably untrue. Do you share my optimism that, in the face of these revelations, the County Council will “Do the Right Thing” and rescind without prejudice its adoption of R281? (“Without prejudice” enables the developer, Rocks, to come back and present the project to us again, but next time untainted by misleading falsehoods and omissions.)

Here’s why I am optimistic: all five Council members clearly did not know when they adopted R281 that the two pillars on which the approval was granted were false. If any Council member already knew that Lakeside was not “immediate priority” but had always been “unprogrammed,” or that the MDE permits from 2005-06 were actually invalid, then that person would have been complicit and acting in bad faith—and surely that is unthinkable. Plus, there is an extensive record—transcripts and videos—showing just how the Council (and Planning Commission, and public) was misled. Excerpts from that record were presented on December 13th.

As I’ve said, there is no dishonor in having been the party lied to, and having the courage to acknowledge that new information demands a change of position. Rescission is necessary, for any other action is to countenance and endorse falsehood and misrepresentation in the administration of Talbot County government. Given that Lakeside is the biggest and most disruptive project ever proposed in Talbot County, any pretense of integrity in our land use review process would be out the window.

(Rescission is also required for other reasons that, while important, simply pale in comparison to the moral challenge described above. For one thing, in early November the Planning Commission, based on new information about La Trappe Creek and the existing Trappe sewer plant, reconsidered its earlier finding and determined that connecting Phase 1 of Lakeside to that plant, as permitted by R281, is not consistent with our Comp Plan. As consistency is a legal requirement for adoption of a Comprehensive Water and Sewer Plan amendment, that surely requires R281 be reversed—but somehow the Commission’s action continues to be ignored. Also, it turns out the R281 remapped and reclassified sewer service priority for many, many properties not described in the title or text of the legislation!)

So where is the fly in the ointment? Back in July, near the outset of this effort, the County Attorney told the Council (and all of the rest of us) that the Talbot County Council is powerless to act, that there’s not a thing that the Council can do about it even if it has now learned that it adopted R281 based on Applicant’s false pretenses. Does that sound right to you?

No, me neither.

The so-called opinion was just a bald statement, dicta, not in writing and with no citations or explanation of case law. If those conclusory statements were later backed up in some fashion in writing, we haven’t seen it—and I think we are entitled to it, so we can judge how solid it seems. Because all of us—and the County Council—have also seen the written opinion (complete with citations and the legal reasoning set forth) by Gallagher, Evelius and Jones,
a major Baltimore law firm, asserting that “unquestionably” the Council has unrestricted power to rescind a former action, particularly when based on new information of this sort. (That opinion was obtained for us courtesy of Messrs. Smith, Briggs and McConnel, all local former attorneys troubled by what they had heard from the County Attorney.)

I believe the Council will do the right thing and vote to approve Resolution 308. The reasons are so compelling that that conclusory opinion voiced back in July surely cannot dissuade the Council from right action, especially in the context of the Gallagher treatise. The Council must act, and if there is any question thereafter, the Applicant, the County, MDE and, if necessary, the Circuit Court can sort it out then.

Resolution 308 is on the Council’s January 25th agenda—a week from tomorrow night at 6 pm. That legislation will rescind–without prejudice–the action last year that gave Lakeside the greenlight to proceed (R281). This is scheduled as a “virtual Council meeting,” but as all the information is at long last in hand, I believe we can look forward to the Talbot County Council getting to the right result.

Dan Watson is the former chair of Bipartisan Coalition For New Council Leadership and has lived in Talbot County for the last twenty-five years. 

 

Power and the Presidency by Al Sikes

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Politics is similar to a market. A given political figure’s value (strength) is priced in frequent polls that measure his popularity. Political commentators talk about a president’s “political capital”.

In the 1990s, the Democratic political adviser James Carville said: “I used to think that if there was reincarnation, I wanted to come back as the president or the pope or as a .400 baseball hitter. But now I would like to come back as the bond market. You can intimidate everybody.”

In the case of President Biden, it is almost as if his staff has a short position in his value. With apologies to those who have never shorted a stock or bond, it is not a market move that anticipates the stock or bond will do well. Indeed, if it does well, you lose money.

In politics, losing can be circumstantial and self-inflicted. Former President Trump lost to Covid, a circumstance, but then acted as if he knew what to do, self-inflicted. President Biden, as a candidate, knew he couldn’t keep up with Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren on the Left of his Party so he campaigned from his Party’s Center. He became President and abandoned the Center for the Left notwithstanding paper-thin margins in the Congress. Along with the mishandling of the departure from Afghanistan his beginning pointed to his future.

Now he is blaming his inability to get things done on two moderate Democrat Senators in his Party. He has chosen to lead like the President of an advocacy organization who can raise money using the currency of passion.

In recent weeks he lost the necessary Congressional support on his Build Back Better legislative package and his attempt to federalize voting rules. Plus on Wednesday was told by a majority of the Supreme Court that a universal mandate on employee vaccinations was unconstitutional. And, all the while, poll after poll has measured shrinking popularity.

Starkly, one year into his presidency he already seems a lame duck. And this is at a moment when negotiations with Russia and relatedly the European Union might well turn on the President’s perceived strength. If I was advising the President, I would outline a doable path back to the Center.

Sit down with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senators Manchin and Sinema and reach compromises that will attract Republican Senators from the group that supported the infrastructure bill that was truly bipartisan. But first bring on staff Democrats who know how to work the halls of Congress with its fractious politics. If the President is overruling those kind of staffers among his current advisors, the Nation is in real trouble.

I did not vote for either Presidents Trump or Biden. But all of us by fact of our citizenship are signed up for democracy. Biden won and will continue to be our President for the next three years. His beginning has been unfortunate; I hope he will find his footing. But at present, with the midterm elections looming, one of his new counselors should be James Carville; he knows how political markets work.

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al writes on themes from his book, Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books. 

He’s a Good Person, but… by Angela Rieck

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A friend and I were catching up. She is very social and gets a lot of visitors in Key West. But she was dreading her upcoming visit with her nephew.

“He’s very bigoted,” she explained. “And he is a tenured teacher in an urban neighborhood. He claims that he learned his racism through his job.”

“He is actually a good person,” she continued. “He’s kind to his parents, tithes, and does a lot of volunteer work for his church.”

I was instantly appalled (and judgmental), that this person teaches people he hates.

We know that racism is not limited to just black and white. I attended my niece’s Bat Mitzvah, where an ultra-conservative rabbi preached that reluctantly he concluded that we need to kill people who violently (and that definition was broad) oppose Israel’s right to exist. My appalled brother-in-law never attended that Synagogue again. On another occasion, I remember listening to my cleric-uncle preach a sermon supporting racism. My father, visibly shaken, mumbled that there is a special place in Hell for people who preach hate from the pulpit.

This raises the question, can someone who is racist, an abuser, or misogynist be a good person?

This question has haunted me for some time.

There is another side to this coin as well. Tumblr has a site Racists Getting Fired whose goal is to find people who post racist comments on the Internet and notify their employers. Remember, Amy Cooper? She called the police on a Black man (who was a bird watcher in Central Park) indicating that an African-American was dangerously threatening her (when he merely asked her to leash her dog). He filmed the incident, and his post went viral. She lost her job, temporary custody of her dog, and was charged with attempting to file a false police report (it was later dropped).

Do these tactics assist in the battle for social injustice, or do they simply represent a new kind of abuse and create further division?

About 20 years ago, I decided that I would no longer call a racist, abuser, or misogynist a “good” person. Instead, I can describe his/her good characteristics and also clarify that s/he is biased.

But is this merely judgmental virtue signaling? (Namely, I am better than you because I am against racism.)

What do religious leaders and ethicists believe? Can racists, abusers, or misogynists also be “good” people?

Christians believe in “hating the sin” but “loving the sinner.” The Bible clearly states that only God can judge; and since are forgiven, we must forgive others. But what if the sin hurts so many people? Racism brings everyone down, both its targets and people share the same skin color as the racist.

Rabbis believe that the Torah compels us to make society a better place, so we must engage racists to help them understand that this point of view is not God’s teaching.

Ethicists are more nuanced. Most give advice on how to confront a person with racist views (use “I” words not “You” words). Others ask if it is “right” that we decide that our views are correct and those against us are not.

Should we remain friends with racists, misogynists, or abusers. Many Ethicists, following Aristotle, believe that friendship must err on the side of tolerance. But Aristotle also believed a friend’s character matters to a friendship. So if you believe that this is too great a character flaw, you can decide that the vices outweigh the good.

All agree that you it is very unlikely that calling out racism will change someone’s views – only they can. By just saying to someone, for example, “Your views are racist and you’re wrong”, you may have done the “right thing” in your mind – but have you changed anything?

Research on implicit bias suggests that people are much more complicated that just dividing us into racists and non-racists. All of us can be very quick to generalize about anyone who we perceive to be “the other.” This bias can be based on many characteristics: ethnicity, gender, race, age, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, etc.

In fact, calling out others as racists, is little more than judgmental virtue signaling. (I am good, and you are “bad.”)

So, after all this, I still cannot find an answer. I guess that all that I can do is live with my choices, recognizing that I do not get to hold the “virtue wand.”

Angela Rieck, a Caroline County native, received her PhD in Mathematical Psychology from the University of Maryland and worked as a scientist at Bell Labs, and other high-tech companies in New Jersey before retiring as a corporate executive. Angela and her dogs divide their time between St Michaels and Key West Florida. Her daughter lives and works in New York City.

Setting The Story Straight With Facts, Not Opinions by Rob Newberry

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Earlier this month, Shore Rivers, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Sierra Club, and other environmental activist advocacy groups met at an Eastern Shore Environmental Legislative Review Summit.

Summit attendees included members of the General Assembly from Prince George’s, Montgomery, Anne Arundel, and Baltimore Counties. In reviewing the summit proceedings, it is clear there is a surge of focus on pollution in the Chesapeake Bay.

This is welcome news for everyone interested in the health well – being and a bright future for the Bay.

The Delmarva Fisheries Association (DFA) has been raising the alarm on pollution’s devastating impact on the Bay these for an exceptionally long time. DFA has also been researching and proposing ideas on meaningful and measurable ways to help ensure the Bay not only survives but thrives.

That said, it was disheartening that one uninformed summit attendee made statements about the health of the Bay that are, at best, misleading and are, at worst, flat out wrong.

At the Summit, State Senator Sarah Elfreth who represents Annapolis and the southern portion of Anne Arundel County said the wild fishery for oysters is not rebounding. NOT TRUE! According to the most recent reports from the State Department of Natural Resources, the number of oysters harvested over the previous four years increased dramatically, the number of oysters harvested over the previous three years have increased over 200%, the biomass on oysters harvested have increased and the spat set from which full-grown harvestable oysters grow has increased. These numbers are inconvenient truths for doom and gloom story tellers that help in endless fundraising campaigns  by some environmental groups more focused on using incorrect, incomplete, or misleading information to encourage well-intentioned but misinformed members of the public to donate money to their organizations.

Senator Elfreth also expressed her displeasure on how the Maryland Department of Natural Resource’s Oyster Advisory Commission presented their report to members of the General Assembly in December 2021. In her view, development of the report was not conducted in the way that the General Assembly had initially set it up. This observation is misleading. The facts are that industry representatives from DFA on that advisory commission not once, but twice, presented a letter of resolution specifically addressing the fact that the dialogue and deliberation was not working out the way it should have because of covid restrictions on in person meetings. These same representatives expressed their opinion that issuing a final report should be delayed. That view was not shared by a majority of the commission members.

Perhaps Senator Elfreth, who serves as chair of and as one of two Maryland State Senators on the tri state Chesapeake Bay Commission, as Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bay Critical Area, as a member of the Oyster Advisory Commission and was sponsor of the legislation on Fishery Management Plans for Oysters; would have been aware of these facts if she had attended more than a few meetings of the Oyster Advisory Commission over a four year period. Perhaps by attending more meetings and voicing her concerns at those meetings about the process she could have made a difference. By virtue of her serving in all the capacities noted above she also had every opportunity to request, access and review timely and accurate information on such an important issue as oyster restoration challenges and opportunities.

Meeting the still daunting challenges of improving the health of the bay requires every key stakeholder to participate fully in all discussions no matter how these discussions are managed, as well as a commitment to become  fully aware of all the pertinent facts. Those charged with doing what is best for the bay need to be engaged wherever, whenever, and however there is fact-based dialogue and deliberation. The Bay and those who love it as a place to make a living or enjoy using it for a wide range of recreational pursuits deserve nothing less

Rob Newberry is the chairman of the Delmarva Fisheries Association

Canadians Are Worried about America’s Future by J.E. Dean

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A friend from Toronto recently shared an editorial from that city’s newspaper, the Globe and Mail. entitled, “The American Polity is Cracked and Might Collapse.” The piece said Canadians must “prepare.”  After reading the piece, I must agree.

The author, Thomas Homer-Dixon, is a left-leaning Canadian academic. Before reading the piece, I was ready for another spirited condemnation of Donald Trump. That’s not what the editorial is about. Trumpism is referenced but is described as more a symptom than cause of underlying, deeper problems. Worsening income inequality, a more vulnerable economy, and a host of other challenges are leading many Americans to question democracy. The writer also notes that changing demographics are fueling a fear that “traditional U.S. culture is being erased” as “whites are replaced.”

The writer assumes that effective government could respond to the challenges and contribute to renewed support for democracy. That isn’t happening. Homer-Dixon suggests that the wealthy and powerful in the U.S. are starving government of the resources it needs to address our economic, educational, and racial problems. This, in turn, leads to more people giving up on democracy because an “under-resourced government” cannot solve problems. Why bother to vote if government “doesn’t work?”  

Homer-Dixon’s assessment, dour as it is, is relevant to the consideration of voting rights legislation in the U.S. Senate this week. Unfortunately, despite renewed efforts by President Biden and Senate Majority Leader Schumer, approval remains uncertain. To date, Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) are unwilling to modify the filibuster rule that enables a minority to block passage by requiring 60 votes.

It remains to be seen whether a compromise of some sort will be reached. It is telling that some see passage of the legislation as critical. Because the bill would effectively federalize election integrity, it is seen as a response to well-documented Republican efforts to make voting more difficult. The bill would also outlaw gerrymandering and make election day a holiday.

I am not fully convinced enactment of election reform will end the threat to democracy represented by the January 6 insurrection and continuing efforts to promote political division and dysfunction. Free, fair, and full elections will not by themselves cure racial, social, and economic injustice. Enactment of the legislation would, however, make it more likely that action could be taken on some U.S. societal trends that are ripping the country apart—things such as income inequality and inadequate investments in education, healthcare, and infrastructure.

Is the U.S. about to disintegrate as Homer-Dixon suggests? I hope not, but I do see dangerous signs of American decline. Our role as a world leader is now questioned. European and Asian allies are no longer sure they can depend on us. We also are no longer seen as a leader in addressing climate change. And, unfortunately, since Trump left office, despite Biden rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement, passage of meaningful measures to address climate change has proven impossible. 

Then there are the threats from Russia and China. Both seem ready to test American military resolve. Some interpret recent threats to Ukraine and Taiwan as prompted by a perception of Joe Biden as a weak president. That is naïve. The real problem is that both Russia’s Putin and China’s Xi may be convinced that public support for military action in response to an invasion in either place is lacking. Unfortunately, that may be true, especially after the long-overdue end to the Afghanistan war.

So where does this leave us? The answer is “vulnerable but not yet dead.”  If Americans wake up to the fact that we are in a crisis, action will become more likely. Democracy and political stability are in jeopardy. Congress must do all it can to buttress democracy and restore the public’s faith in it. And if Congress passes the legislation, further action is needed to excise the dysfunction out of Congress.

J.E. Dean is a retired attorney and public affairs consultant writing on politics, government, birds, and other subjects.